CALL TO ARTISTS

Politics in Collage 2025: Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide

A four-week, virtual/online Residency with Kolaj Institute
Sundays, 19 & 26 January and 2 & 9 February 2025

Early deadline to apply: Monday, 30 December 2024
Final deadline to apply: Sunday, 12 January 2025

Freedom House, “the oldest American organization devoted to the support and defense of democracy around the world…was formally established in New York in 1941 to promote American involvement in World War II and the fight against fascism.” In 2022, they issued a report on the state of global freedom and concluded, “Global freedom faces a dire threat. Around the world, the enemies of liberal democracy—a form of self-government in which human rights are recognized and every individual is entitled to equal treatment under law—are accelerating their attacks. Authoritarian regimes have become more effective at co-opting or circumventing the norms and institutions meant to support basic liberties, and at providing aid to others who wish to do the same.” What can collage artists do to counter rising authoritarianism?

During this residency, collage artists will work together to make artwork that responds to a global rise in authoritarianism. They will explore the history of political collage and its early 20th century roots in the European anti-fascist movements. They will learn how to read and decode authoritarianism, to understand how it operates, and strategies for resisting or countering it. Discussions and presentations will center on how an artist can make work that picks up the unfinished work of history and contributes to the civic discourse. 

Artists in the residency will work together to illustrate and elucidate The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide. Based on the Polish experience, The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide offers its readers information and tools for recognizing and resisting authoritarianism. In a clear series of lists, the Guide lays out what to expect in a society being led by an authoritarian regime, rules for surviving such a regime, and strategies for engaging with authoritarian supporters.

Artists in the residency will hear from Guest Speaker Martin Mycielski, the Vice-President and Executive Director of the Brussels-based Open Dialogue Foundation. In 2017, Mycielski published a series of improvised, spontaneous tweets that became The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide after they went viral and reached 3 million views within one month. 

Artists will also hear from Guest Speaker G.E. Vogt about how 21st century collage artists make political collage. Since 2021, Vogt has led a series of residencies in which artists explored the intersection of politics and collage, which resulted in the books Politics in Collage and Collage Saves The World. Vogt was the artist-in-residence with Ideas Block LT in Vilnius, Lithuania in 2023, wherein she worked with a Russian artist to create an exhibition of works exploring the rise of authoritarianism in their respective countries. Vogt’s artwork explores the unmanageable socioeconomic gap, the various forms of inequality prevalent in the U.S, and the toxicity of our political climate.

The residency will be facilitated by Ric Kasini Kadour, a 2020-2021 Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Curatorial Fellow, whose work centers on how contemporary art can pick up the unfinished work of history and contribute to the present-day civic discourse. Kadour will lead discussions around artist practice, collage and illustration, the diffusion of political art, and the role of contemporary art in society.  

OUTCOME

Artists in the residency will work together to illustrate and elucidate The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide. The artwork will be included in a book published by Kolaj Institute and an exhibition of a folio of prints at Kolaj Institute Gallery in New Orleans that will be available as a traveling exhibition.

Artists will end the residency with a deeper understanding of the role political collage plays in their practice and a set of tools for developing and diffusing political art.

WHO IS THIS FOR?

Collage Artist Residencies are intended for self-motivated artists, at any stage in their career, who want to develop their practice by exploring a topic or working method and collaborating with others to produce a final product. Residencies are open to any artist over the age of 21 from anywhere in the world. 

HOW TO APPLY

Learn more and apply HERE.

COST

The cost for the Politics in Collage 2025 Residency is $500 USD. A limited number of grants is available to offset the workshop fee and reduce barriers to participation in the program, particularly for those artists coming from places in the world that face historic economic disadvantages. Follow the link in the How to Apply section above to learn more.

SESSION DATES

Sunday, 19 January 2025, Noon-2PM EST
Sunday, 26 January 2025, Noon-2PM EST
Sunday, 2 February 2025, Noon-2PM EST
Sunday, 9 February 2025, Noon-2PM EST

QUESTIONS

If you have questions, send an email.

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ABOUT KOLAJ INSTITUTE’S POLITICS IN COLLAGE PROJECT

Politics in Collage is a series of residencies, publications, discussions, and exhibitions examining complex socio-political issues that contemporary society is contending with, in order to spark meaningful dialogue and inspire deeper engagement. Kolaj Magazine has reported on how collage was used to visualize the 2019-2021 Estallido Social in Chile which incidentally birthed a new collage community. In Fall 2021, Kolaj Institute organized a series of residencies in which artists explored the intersection of politics and collage. Led by G.E. Vogt, the residencies produced a collection of artworks that debuted at Kolaj Fest New Orleans in 2022 as an exhibition at The Domino. Guest Speaker John Heartfield, Jr. presented his grandfather’s artwork and spoke about how he used collage to resist Adolph Hitler’s control of Germany. In July 2022, Kolaj Institute released Politics in Collage, a book of artwork, and an online exhibition. In November 2022, a third residency took place which resulted in a second book, Collage Saves The World. In April 2024, the artist residency and exhibition “Collage the Planet: Environmentalism in Art” took place at Kolaj Institute Gallery in New Orleans. Learn more HERE.

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GUEST SPEAKERS

Martin Mycielski

Martin Mycielski is the Vice-President and Executive Director of the Brussels-based Open Dialogue Foundation. He is the author of The Survival Guide to Authoritarianism, a pamphlet based on the Polish experience which reached three million people around the world within a month and served as the basis for a 15-part web series. Mycielski is an avid political commentator, writing for publications such as EU Observer, Politico Europe, EurActiv and The Next Web, or commenting on current events for stations like BBC World News, Euronews or Al Jazeera. He holds a master’s degree in diplomacy and foreign relations from Camilo José Cela University in Madrid and has studied English philology, Iberian culture and management at Warsaw University. He graduated from the Stern Leadership Academy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, as well as finished the USAID Executive Training Programme on Anti-corruption, Transparency and Public Integrity at Hertie School in Berlin. Following a short-lived political career in the early 2000s, he moved to Brussels, where he worked in the European Parliament, the Polish Permanent Representation organizing Poland’s first EU Council presidency, as well as in an American law firm and the World Federation of Advertisers. He founded the international Committee for the Defence of Democracy (KOD International) and co-launched the EU DisinfoLab, the first European NGO committed strictly to countering disinformation. He then served for 2 years as the Brussels correspondent for the leading Polish daily, Gazeta Wyborcza. Learn more HERE.

G. E. Vogt

G. E. Vogt originally trained as a performance artist with a focus on socio-political themes. In order to create this highly physical performance art, she gathered “found” materials from numerous sources until the performances became living collages, telling visceral stories to their audiences. The unique ability of collage to use a juxtaposition of complementary and contradictory elements to explore a multi-faceted theme is what drew Vogt to working in collage exclusively, as it is an ideal art form in which to create work about complex socio-political issues.

Since 2017, she has exhibited in various juried exhibitions across the US. In 2019, Fresh Paint Gallery held a major exhibition of Vogt’s work and she spoke on the “Women In Collage” panel at Kolaj Fest New Orleans. In 2021, Vogt was a participating artist in Kolaj Institute’s Money Money Residency, and in 2021 and 2023, she directed/moderated two of Kolaj Institute’s “Politics in Collage” Artist Residencies. She was the artist-in-residence with Ideas Block LT in Vilnius, Lithuania in 2023, where she worked with a Russian artist creating an exhibition of works exploring the rise of authoritarianism in their respective countries, which culminated in an interactive installation. Vogt’s works continue to explore the themes she has been interested in since her performance work which have become increasingly relevant–the unmanageable socioeconomic gap, the various forms of inequality prevalent in the U.S, and the toxicity of our political climate. Learn more HERE.

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FACULTY

Ric Kasini Kadour

Ric Kasini Kadour, a 2020-2021 Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Curatorial Fellow, is a writer, artist, publisher, and cultural worker. Working with the Vermont Arts Council, Kadour curated four exhibits: “Connection: The Art of Coming Together” (2017) and Vermont Artists to Watch 2018, 2019 and 2020. In 2017, he curated “The Art of Winter” at S.P.A.C.E. Gallery in Burlington, Vermont. In 2018, Kadour curated “Revolutionary Paths: Critical Issues in Collage” at Antenna Gallery in New Orleans, which bought together collage artists whose work represents the potential for deeper inquiry and further curatorial exploration of the medium; followed in 2019 by “Cultural Deconstructions: Critical Issues in Collage” at LeMieux Galleries in New Orleans, which furthered the conversation; and “Amuse Bouche”, also at LeMieux Galleries in 2023 and 2024. Since 2018, he has produced Kolaj Fest New Orleans, a multi-day festival & symposium about contemporary collage and its role in art, culture, and society. As Curator of Contemporary Art at Rokeby Museum in Ferrisburgh, Vermont in 2019 and 2020, he curated three exhibitions, “Rokeby Through the Lens” (May 19-June 16, 2019), “Structures” (August 24-October 27, 2019), and “Mending Fences: New Works by Carol MacDonald” (July 12-October 25, 2020). He also curated “Contemporary American Regionalism: Vermont Perspectives” (August 17-October 20, 2019); “Where the Sun Casts No Shadow: Postcards from the Creative Crossroads of Quito, Ecuador” (November 1-30, 2019); and “Many Americas” (August 20-November 27, 2022) in the Wilson Museum & Galleries at the Southern Vermont Arts Center. “The Money $how”, co-curated with Frank Juarez, was presented at the AIR Space Gallery at Saint Kate-The Arts Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (April 10-September 12, 2021). For Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival in Birr, County Offaly, Ireland (August 13-20, 2021), he curated “Empty Columns Are a Place to Dream”, which traveled to the Knoxville Museum of Art in January-February 2022. At 516 ARTS in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Kadour co-curated with Alicia Inez Guzmàn two exhibitions: “Many Worlds Are Born” (February 19-May 14, 2022) and “Technologies of the Spirit” (June 11-September 3, 2022). In 2023 at the Knoxville Museum of Art, Kadour curated “Where the Sun Casts No Shadow: Postcards from the Creative Crossroads of Quito, Ecuador” (January 9-February 16, 2023) and “Mythical Landscape: Secrets of the Vale” (March 17-May 28, 2023). In September 2023, he curated “Word of Mouth: Folklore, Community and Collage” at A’ the Airts in Sanquhar, Scotland. His first short film, The Covenant of Schwitters’ Army, debuted at Collage on Screen during Kolaj Fest New Orleans 2023. His second, Joy Is Paper, debuted at Collage on Screen during Kolaj Fest New Orleans 2024.

At the Kolaj Institute Gallery, Kadour curated “Kolaj Institute Grand Opening Exhibition” (March 9-April 14, 2024); “Collage the Planet: Environmentalism in Art” (April 19-May 26, 2024); “Magic in the Modern World” (June 1-August 11, 2024); “Advanced Wound Healing Techniques: Collage by Robbie Morgan” (August 16-October 6, 2024); “Temporal Geolocation: How Place & History Inform Identity in Collage” (October 11-November 24, 2024; and “Camera & Collage” (November 29, 2024-January 25, 2025).

Kadour is the editor and publisher of Kolaj Magazine. He has written for a number of galleries and his writing has appeared in Hyperallergic, OEI, Vermont Magazine, Seven Days, Seattle Weekly, Art New England (where he was the former Vermont editor) and many others. Kadour maintains an active art practice and his photography, collage, and sculpture have been exhibited in and are part of private collections in Australia, Europe and North America. In January-February 2020, he was artist-in-residence at MERZ Gallery in Sanquhar, Scotland. He holds a BA in Comparative Religion from the University of Vermont. Kadour splits his time between Montreal and New Orleans. www.rickasinikadour.com